Jonathan’s govt. not responding to citizen’s need, says Atiku

Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta

President Goodluck Jonathan has once again been criticized by one of the presidential aspirants of the main opposition party, All Progressive Congress (APC) Atiku Abubakar as he has described the present form of government led by Jonathan as patrimonial democracy, noting that, it only allows power to be concentrated in the hands of few people.

Atiku posited that the system is against durability democracy and contended that this form of democracy limits the extent at which government could be pressed to be responsive and accountable to the citizenry.

Speaking through the Director-General of Atiku Campaign Organisation, Professor Babalola Borisade, at a press conference on Policy Review Summit, held at the Green Legacy Hotel Conference Centre, Obasanjo Presidential Library, IBB Boluveard, Abeokuta on Monday, he said the policy summit is premised on the manifestos of their party, APC.

Atiku disclosed that the country had been gravitating from Presidential system of government to “Presidentialism”, whereby, the political power of the country is been controlled by an individual or a cabal.

According to him, “a deductive observer will not fail to notice that the nation has been gravitating from the presidential system of governance stipulated in our constitution to presidentialism. This means the systematic concentration of political power in the hands of one individual or a cabal. As a result, effective accountability and representation through popular democratic participation is giving way to personal rule and single party dictatorships rooted on politics of clientelism.

“Clientelism” refers to the awarding of personal favours among patrimonial cronies. These favours take the form of public sector jobs, appointments, and distribution of resources through licenses, contracts and tax waivers. In return, the cronies mobilize political support and loyalty for their patrons, ‘the TAN Spectacle’,” Atiku
posited.

The former Vice President said the summit was a product of wide consultations across various demographies in Nigeria, while explaining that Nigerians deserve democracy which would address the socio-economic demands and improve on their standards of living.

He added that the patrimonial democracy had eroded civil liberties of citizens by creating a culture of political apathy and disenchantment.

“In essence, what we have now in Nigeria is a form of Patrimonial Democracy. This is posing serious threats to the durability of democracy. Not only because it erodes civil liberties of citizens, thus creating a culture of political apathy and disenchantment among them, it also severely limits the extent to which government can be
pressed to responsive and accountable towards the citizens. Thus, for both of those who are inside and outside the network, the future is bleak.

“Nigerians need democracies of substance that will respond to their socio-economic demands and bring about improvements in their living conditions. They yearn for a democracy that has dividends. Elections should therefore no longer be just about the right to vote but must also provide opportunities to choose between candidates who compete not on primordial sentiments, but on what they will do for Nigerians,” he said.

The Adamawa born presidential hopeful insisted that the country needs re-evaluation of its socio-economic status, lamenting that the indices on ground does not conform to the fact that the nation’s economy is the largest in Africa.

He maintained that the country had been subdued with high unemployment status, poverty, crippling economy conditions, collapsing infrastructure, decadence in the education sector, kidnapping and Boko Haram insurgency among many other problems.

No fewer than 50 distinguished Nigerians from diverse fields and competences were in attendance to analyse and review Atiku’s policy document which centered on an eight-point agenda on his commitment on how to make the country work again.